Document picker

ABSTRACT

Vacuum-operated document picking and transporting apparatus includes a moving belt formed with two rows of apertures therein extending in the length direction of the belt either row of which may be coupled to a vacuum source. Apertures in one row may be located at different positions than those in the other and the apertures in one row may be spaced apart different distances than those in the other. Then as a portion of the belt containing an aperture passes between a stack of documents and the vacuum source, a document may be separated from the stack and transported by the belt. The phasing of the pickup and/or the number of documents picked up in a given interval of time may be changed without changing the belt speed by switching the vacuum to the other row of apertures.

United States Patent [191 Watson Primary Examiner-Harvey C. Hornsby Assistant Examiner-Bruce l-l. Stoner, Jr. Attorney-H. Christoffersen [54] DOCUMENT PICKER James Power Watson, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

[75] Inventor:

[73] Assignee: RCA Corporation, New York, NY.

[22] Filed: Nov. 12, 1971 [57] ABSTRACT Vacuum-operated document picking and transporting apparatus includes a moving belt formed with two rows of apertures therein extending in the len di gth rection of the belt either row of which may be coupled to a vacuum source. Apertures in one row may be located at different positions than those in the other and the apertures in one row may be spaced apart different distances than those in the other. Then as a portion of the belt containing an aperture passes between a stack of documents and the vacuum source, a document may be separated from the stack and transported by the belt. The phasing of the pickup and/or the number of documents picked up in a given interval of time may be changed without changing the belt speed by switching the vacuum to the other row of apertures.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1959 Makrides 2/l97l Street...... 7/1964 Stewart.... 9/ 195 8 42 2 31 3 a 13 7 4 2 ,6 7 S S E .E W6 M "2 l 1 7 22 mm" C 8 m,mm n m m s I a m mmm R mm o mS a m. d .l n. Smk A UIF l. 1]] 1 2 8 6 2 555 5 [[ri FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,275,548 8/1968 Germany................................271/34 4 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures DOCUMENT PICKER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION uum to a vacuum head located adjacent the belt during passage past the head of every other belt aperture. However, it is found in practice, that the means for cutting off the vacuum wears out in a very short time.

' It is also sometimes desirable to alter the timing that the belt apertures pass other mechanisms. In prior art apparatus, this has been accomplished by physically moving the belt, relative to the rest of the apparatus. This involves rather complicated mechanical elements and, as is often the case, if accomplished while some of the apparatus is in motion, may prove dangerous to an operator making the change.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An arrangement for picking documents from a document stack includes a driven belt the front surface of which passes the stack and which has two rows of apertures extending in the length dimension of the belt, apertures in one row being located at different positions than apertures in the other row. Also included is a means for creating a vacuum in the region of the belt which overlaps the leading portion (when considering belt movement direction) of the stack and extends for some distance beyond, and means for selectively applying the vacuum to one of the two rows of apertures through the back surface of the belt.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly schematic, of apparatus embodying one form of the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a cross-section taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1, being the vacuum head employed in the apparatus of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In FIG. 1 a pair of identical timing belts 50a and 50b (shown broken away) pass over a pair of idler gears 70 and 71, respectively, follow a path adjacent to a vacuum head generally labeled to a driving means 72. Driving means 72 may comprise a motor 78 which is coupled to a pair of gears 73 and 74 by shaft 76. The belts 50a and 50b pass overthe gears 73 and 74, respectively, to be rotated in the direction of arrow 80.

Each belt 50 is an endless timing belt having a groove 51 formed around the inner periphery leaving teeth 52 on eitherside thereof. Teeth 52 are engaged by teeth 82 on gears 73 and 74 to provide synchronization between the belts as they are driven. Each belt is also formed with a first row of spaced apertures 53 and a second row of spaced apertures 54. The apertures 54 on belt 50b align with apertures 54 on belt 50a; similarly, apertures 53 on the two belts are also aligned, that is, as viewed in the drawing, any aperture 53 on belt 50b lies directly beneath a corresponding aperture on belt 50a. The apertures of one set, such as apertures 54, may be spaced half the distance apart as the apertures 53 of the other set. Further, where one aperture 53 is locatedclose to an aperture of set 54 on the same belt, aperture 53 may lead an aperture 54. A strip of high friction material 56 may be bonded to belt 50 in the vicinity of each aperture 53 and 54. Successive apertures in a row are spaced .apart a distance greater than the length of documents to be transported by the belts.

FIG. 2 should now be referred to. Head 10 is provided with two shoes 11 and 12 to accommodate the two vacuum belts 50a and 50b, respectively. Shoe 11 contains two slots 13 and 14 while shoe 12 contains slots 15 and 16. The slots extend almost the length of the shoes, as illustrated in FIG. 1. A bore 17 in head 10 connects slots 13 and 15. It is sealed off from slot 14 by sleeve 18 which is pressed into a counterbore in head 10 after bore 17 is formed. A cap 19 closes the bore and may be attached to head 10 in any suitable manner. Slots 14 and 16 are connected in a similar manner by bore 21 (shown in phantom). A second sleeve 18 (shown in phantom) seals bore 21 from slot 15 and a cap 19 closes bore 21 at surface 62.

A bore 22 intersects bore 17 and pierces the wall of valve chamber 23. It is sealed at the opposite end by a plug 24. In a similar fashion a bore 25 (shown largely in phantom) intersects 21 and also passes through wall 23. The opposite end is sealed by a plug 26. A vacuum supply line 27 connected to head 10 extends to a vacuum source 64 (FIG. 1). A bore 28 in head 10 continues to supply into valve chamber 23.

Rotatable valve 31 is retained in the chamber 23 by retainer 33 which encircles the valve and is secured by a suitable means to head 10. valve 31 contains a large bore 35 extending along a major portion of the length of valve 31. The valve also contains a number of smaller ports connecting the large bore to various ones of the other bores previously described. In the position shown in FIG. 2, port 28a in valve 31 connects vacuum supply bore 28 to the interior bore 35. A port 22a connects bore 35 to bore 22. Therefore, by means of t bore 28, port 28a, bore 35, port 22a, bore 22 and bore 17, vacuum source 64 is connected to slots 13 and 15. Valve 31 also contains ports 25a and 28!; which are at right angles respectively to ports 22a and 280. A handle 66 connected to valve 31 permits it to be rotated in the clockwise direction (as illustrated in FIG. 1). When valve 31 is rotated 90 from the position shown, a vacuum path is formed from vacuum source 64 through bore 28, via port 28b, bore 35, port 25a, bore 25, and via bore 21 to slots 14 and 16. Returning to FIG. 1, a stack of documents shown in phantom is positioned opposite belts 50 and head 10 the belt lying adjacent the face of the nearest or end document of the stack. At least a portion of the documents (typically the portion commonly known as the leading edge when the document is in motion) is positioned adjacent the rightmost portion (as illustrated in FIG. '1) of slots 13 through 16. Document stackers are well known. Any type will perform satisfactorily which urges the stack of documents toward belts 50. In operation, assuming that valve 31 is in the position shown in FIG. 2,'i.e., that slots 13 and 15 are connected to. vacuum source 64, belts 50a and 50b will be driven until an aperture 53 on each belt is moved to a position interposed between the stack of documents 100 and vacuum slots 13 and 15 respectively. At that time, a document 102 shown in phantom is attracted against the belts or rather against the frictional pads 56 and carried along as the belt is moved. Before apertures 53 reach the left side (as illustrated in FIG. 1) of slots 13 and 15 another mechanism (not shown) may engage document 102 and move it out of the way of the belts 50 and head 10. Since the spacing between adjacent apertures 53 is greater than the length of the documents, the operation just described is repeated every time a pair of apertures 53 is opposite document stack 100. Document picking may be halted by disconnecting vacuum source 64.

If it is desired to move a greater number of documents in a given time internal, valve 31 is rotated 90 to disconnect slots 13 and 15 from the vacuum source 64 and to connect slots 14 and 16 to the vacuum source. Then if documents 100 are shorter in length than the distance between adjacent apertures 54, as each set of apertures 54 becomes interposed between stack of documents 100 and slots 14 and 16, a document will be attracted to the belt to be transported thereby.

Since apertures 54 are more closely spaced than those of sets 53, more documents will be handled by the system in a given unit of time.

Further since the usual reason for varying pick rate is variation in document length, and since long documents accelerate more slowly than short ones, it has been found necessary in the past when transporting long documents to shift the pick belts 50 in the direction of arrow 80 relative to the balance of the transport system. With the belts thus repositioned, documents will be picked up earlier in time. In the present apparatus the displacement, along the belt length, shown between the first group of apertures 53 and the second group54, accomplishes the same timing change. That is, apertures 53 which are used to pick longer documents are positioned ahead (i.e. to the left) of apertures 54.

The number of belts illustrated and the number of apertures in each group illustrated are purely matters of engineering choice. For example, if very light-weight documents are to be transported, only a single belt may be necessary. If heavy documents are to be transported, a cluster of relatively closely spaced apertures per document in each belt 50 would be necessary rather than the single aperture illustrated. Further while only two sets of slots and, therefore, two different document pick rates have been illustrated, the principle would be applicable to any number of different rates merely by adding more rows of apertures on belts 50 and a corresponding number of slots in head 12. In addition, opposite sets of apertures may be offset as illustrated in FIG. 1 or in line depending on the particular application. Finally, while a head having a shoe containing two slots, either one of which is selectable, has been described a head with a single slotted shoe may be utilized.

in that event the belt is shifted relative to the head in a direction normal to belt travel direction so that one or the other row of apertures is aligned with said slot. Either the belts or the head may be shifted but it may be more desirable to shift the head.

What is claimed is:

1. An arrangement for picking documents from the end of a stack of said documents comprising, in combination:

a driven belt means which passes one end of the stack with the front surface of the belt facing and adjacent to the exposed surface of the end document in the stack, said belt means being formed with two rows of apertures therethrough, each row extending in the direction of the length dimension of the belt means, apertures in one row being located at different positions than apertures in the other row;

means for creating a vacuum at the region of the belt means opposite the end document of the stack and means for selectively continuously applying said vacuum solely to one of the two rows of apertures through the back surface of the belt, whereby the timing and rate of document pick-up is determined by the row of apertures to which said vacuum is applied.

2. An arrangement for picking documents from the end of a stack of said documents comprising, in combination:

a driven belt which passes one end of the stack with the front surface of the belt facing and adjacent to the exposed surface of the end document in the stack, said belt being formed with two rows of apertures therethrough, each row extending in the direction of the length dimension of the belt, there being a substantially greater number of apertures in one row than in the other, the apertures in said one row being spaced substantially closer together than in said other row;

means for creating a vacuum at the region of the belt which overlaps the last portion of the end document on the stack passed by the belt, and which extends a substantial distance beyond that last portion; and

means for selectively applying said vacuum to one of the two rows of apertures through the back surface of the belt.

3. An arrangement as set forth in claim 2 wherein adjacent apertures in said one row are spaced apart a distance somewhat greater than the length of a document.

4. An arrangement for picking documents from the end of a stack of said documents comprising, in combination:

a driven belt which passes one end of the stack with the front surface of the belt facing and adjacent to the exposed surface of the end document of the stack, said belt being formed with two rows of apertures therethrough, each row extending in the direction of the length dimension of the belt, apertures in one row being located at different positions than apertures in the other row and wherein the apertures in eachrow occur in clusters, each cluster of apertures in one row being spaced from the next adjacent cluster in that row a distance somewhat greater than a document length, and each cluster of apertures in the other row being spaced from the adjacent cluster of apertures in that row a distance substantially greater thanv the distance between clusters in said one row;

means for creating a vacuum at the region of the belt which overlaps the last portion of the end document on the stack passed by the belt, and which extends a substantial distance beyond that last portion; and

means for selectively applying said vacuum to one of the two rows of apertures through the back surface of the belt.

i 8 i i i 

1. An arrangement for picking documents from the end of a stack of said documents comprising, in combination: a driven belt means which passes one end of the stack with the front surface of the belt facing and adjacent to the exposed surface of the end document in the stack, said belt means being formed with two rows of apertures therethrough, each row extending in the direction of the length dimension of the belt means, aperturEs in one row being located at different positions than apertures in the other row; means for creating a vacuum at the region of the belt means opposite the end document of the stack and means for selectively continuously applying said vacuum solely to one of the two rows of apertures through the back surface of the belt, whereby the timing and rate of document pick-up is determined by the row of apertures to which said vacuum is applied.
 2. An arrangement for picking documents from the end of a stack of said documents comprising, in combination: a driven belt which passes one end of the stack with the front surface of the belt facing and adjacent to the exposed surface of the end document in the stack, said belt being formed with two rows of apertures therethrough, each row extending in the direction of the length dimension of the belt, there being a substantially greater number of apertures in one row than in the other, the apertures in said one row being spaced substantially closer together than in said other row; means for creating a vacuum at the region of the belt which overlaps the last portion of the end document on the stack passed by the belt, and which extends a substantial distance beyond that last portion; and means for selectively applying said vacuum to one of the two rows of apertures through the back surface of the belt.
 3. An arrangement as set forth in claim 2 wherein adjacent apertures in said one row are spaced apart a distance somewhat greater than the length of a document.
 4. An arrangement for picking documents from the end of a stack of said documents comprising, in combination: a driven belt which passes one end of the stack with the front surface of the belt facing and adjacent to the exposed surface of the end document of the stack, said belt being formed with two rows of apertures therethrough, each row extending in the direction of the length dimension of the belt, apertures in one row being located at different positions than apertures in the other row and wherein the apertures in each row occur in clusters, each cluster of apertures in one row being spaced from the next adjacent cluster in that row a distance somewhat greater than a document length, and each cluster of apertures in the other row being spaced from the adjacent cluster of apertures in that row a distance substantially greater than the distance between clusters in said one row; means for creating a vacuum at the region of the belt which overlaps the last portion of the end document on the stack passed by the belt, and which extends a substantial distance beyond that last portion; and means for selectively applying said vacuum to one of the two rows of apertures through the back surface of the belt. 